He Was Only 12
by Blazefire2010
Summary: Latvia gets a call from his good friend Sealand with horrible news. Sealand's 'country' caught on fire once again and was falling apart. And as Latvia was grieving on the beach after he watched the little fort fade away in his arms, he finds something that he will hold close to his heart for many years to come.


**Prologue**

"Hello?" Latvia answered the phone half expecting it to be his friend, Sealand, wining about something or to tell him something cool. But today was different.

"L-Latvia! Something terrible has happened! More like something terrible IS happening!" He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked into the phone.  
He sighed,"what's happened this time Sealand?"

He heard crying on the other end.  
"M-my country... It's almost destroyed. T-there was another fire and now it's crumbling! Peices are falling off and is going to collapse!" He yelled.

"Wha?! I'll be right over, and hang on and don't do anything stupid!" Latvia said into the phone as he ran to the other Baltics.

"I'm going out to get Sealand! I'll be back later!" he yelled to his older brother figures and he ran out the door and ran towards to the forts rescue. He knew what would happen if his 'country' got destroyed. But he didn't want to think about that.

**Present Time**

"Sealand are you okay?!" Latvia asked franticly.

He had found his best friend on the ground at a beach his 'country' was close to and he was now holding him up in his arms. He was hurt and was coughing. And he couldn't move very easily. When he seen a figure in the distance he realized that it was the fort Sealand called his country and he went in the direction it was in and found the young boy on the beach. In the background lied the remnants of the fort.

The story Sealand was telling was true.

It had been torn to pieces because of the old metal. Only a little bit remained and it was not much.  
But Latvia had ran up to him and sat him up and let him lean on him, also while supporting his by holding his back and head up.

"Sealand! Sealand, can you hear me?!" he asked almost in tears just from looking at the state he was in.

His clothes were in tattered and he had lots of scratches and bruises. He had his eyes closed and he couldn't feel any rise and fall of his chest so he predicted the worst.

Sealand opened his eyes a little and in barely a whisper he said something to his friend.

"I-I-I'm awake. H-how does m-my country look? I-s it as bad as I think?" he said as he lifted up his arm a little and tried to turn him self to look but cringed at the pain in he back. He had lots of injures. He had a few broken bones which wasn't hard to tell.

"I-it's not in good shape. But your going to be fine. I-I'll take you to my place and fix you up. Or I-I'll take you to Sweden and Finland. They will help you! I-" he got cut off by Sealand picking up his hand and putting it on his.

"I'm not going to be okay. My country is destroyed and it will soon crumble to nothing. And that's my fate as well." He struggled to get a breath in as Latvia just denied every word, shaking his head in disbelief.

He just let the tears fall from his face freely and looked at his friend again, hoping that his prediction would not come true.

"No! Don't say things like that!" his eyes screwed shut and shook his head back and forth once more, denying his thoughts.

"But it's true... This has happened to the countries parents and grandparents. My brother, Arthur, and my mother died because she lost her land... That she had to give to her sons..." he said dropping his hand and then closing his eyes again slowly.

Latvia jumped back and shook the boy in his arms again. He then went transparent for a second and then went solid again.

"No! Don't go right now! Please! This can't be happening..." he held up Sealand to his chest and hugged him and kept whispering his pleas to stay in a soft tone.

He looked back to his friend and he went see-through once more.

'_You_ are_ a great friend Latvia_.' he whispered. A tear fell from Sealand's eye and then fell on to Latvia's hand.

The dying country smiled one last time until he faded completely and some light surrounded where he was in his arms and then faded away.

"You were a great friend too..." The boy whispered back as he put his empty hands up to his face as a strong sob over-took him and racked his body as he sat on the beach crying.

"He was just twelve..."

He looked up to Sealand's old country as the pieces started to wash ashore. Then he looked up to see a little box wash up.

He had seen multiple pieces wash up but this one caught his attention.

It was a old black-brown wooden box that had gold painted hinges.

As another sob racked his body he hugged himself and got up and forced his body to walk to the box. He got on his knees once more and looked at it closely.

It had some words burned into the wood. He squinted to see the words through his tears. When he got a good view of the old lettering he read them out loud without a second thought.

"_Peter Kirkland_"

The name rung in his head.

'Peter Kirkland'

Then he realized that it was Sealand's human name burned so carefully into the wood.

He wiped his tears he still had on his face and eyes on the part of his sleeve that was dry and tilted the box to find the opening. It was a classic latch, in which he flipped and opened it.

Inside was things anyone one would call silly. But this was Sealand's keep sakes box.

Latvia looked wide eyed looking into the water proof space and seen the toy that he got Japan to make him a suit of that eventually back fired on him.

Latvia giggled a bit at the memory.

He dug through the box and found other things his friend loved, and wouldn't never let go. He had his lucky items and his favorite seashells but at the very bottom of the box was something laminated.

"Why would he laminate something if the box was water proof?" Latvia said out loud as he scraped the paper off the bottom of the box.

He flipped it over and it was a picture of him and Sealand at a beach during the summer. They both did the bunny ears on each other and were both smiling ear to ear.

Latvia felt touched that he would take such care for something that was so small. It seems that it had a lot of sentimental value to him.  
He was a true friend, and Latvia knew that. He held up the picture and looked at it carefully. That was something so little. And he hadn't thought about that day in about a year.

But he held that picture and the box of keepsakes near and dear to his heart from that day on and he realized something. The beach that they had taken the picture was the exact same he was standing on.

Sealand died close to the spot where they stood that happy day...

Latvia could only smile at the memories that him and Sealand had shared.

But he finally got the strength to get up and go home.

And he had the box with everything that was inside pressed up to his chest like he was hugging it.

He had told Sweden, Finland, and England about what had happened and all of them felt so sorry for little Sealand.

England regretted all the rude things he had ever said or done to his little brother.

He was crying gently and he said he didn't want to be rude and do that in front of Latvia. He then broke into sobs when he caught sight of the box that belonged to Sealand. He said that he had made the box for him and apologized once again for not acting like a gentleman. Latvia accepted his apology and went to tackle the job of breaking the news to Sweden and Finland.

Since they were his adoptive parents they would be the most hurt.

He told the two Nordics and Finland's reaction was almost as bad as England's. He broke down first though and fell into Sweden's arms. Sweden had some stray tears fall down his face told Finland that he was in a better place and that he was alright.

But Latvia thought he was also telling himself that.

But from that day on Latvia never forgot Sealand. And he took care of the box and kept it his so that Russia nor the other Baltics could find it.

And sometimes when he felt upset and down, he got out the box and looked at the picture that Sealand, and now he, treasured.


End file.
